I wrote a mini essay on the balor and I want to get it out of the discord server. some of this might be outdated.

Balor Report The following assumes one is doing a nanowhip build Balor.

Mobility: Pankrati 2, skirmisher 2, and Agility 2 are more than sufficient for mobility purposes, Sunzi is actually unnecessary and Balor can very comfortable achieve its foundational mobility by LL3 at the cost of executioner 3 and Hull 4 which both have to wait till LL4.

Heat Resistance: Lesson of Disbelief! 2 investment in systems or engineering depending on if one is branching out into tech attacking or focusing on raw damage would be wise, but is not a priority.

Presence: Even without swarm body, skirmisher executioner with the whip allows for insane combat oppression.

Takeaway: sunzi can outright be dropped in favor of IPSN investment for the HP, size, or threat core bonus at LL6, the quest is just what you want from IPSN for specifics. Avoiding heat gen is still important. Hull 4 is sufficient HP investment for the most part, so I'd actually suggest investing in Engineering or systems at LL5-6.

Addendum: Balor 3 Black Witch 3 is very good, as most of the IPSN license are wholly unneeded by Balor build. to put it in Morrowind terms, from the perspective of "solving problems", ISPN does not, but also threat 4 whip and hull save acc. further enhances the insanity of the balor so its hard to pass up. Black Witch on the other hand provides the ferrous lash, the PCP, and the black ice module. These immensely help patch of existing weak points of the Balor by providing it further tech resistance, allied support, and control effects. Magnetic shield is good but may not fit due to SP cost, and I'd say that the balor benefits more from having swarm/hive nanites than mag cannon. Also +2 evasion core bonus further assists the Balor's survivability, allowing you to perform some insane feats of frontlining.

Balor Synergy Options

Sunzi: Accelerate and Blink charges are excellent. HA Core Bonus Synergy: Low. IAF or SBD are good options, the former for blink charges, the latter for shoring up Balor's weaknesses. Low rating is due blink charges being an unsustainable luxury that runs counter to the Balor's speciality, and the Balor's poor reactor can be better mitigated by giving it protection from tech, such as from the next entry-

Black Witch: Ferrous Lash, Black Ice, and PCP. Black Ice especially combines with Lesson of Disbelief to turn a normally witch-fearing frame into a witch-hunter. SSC Core Bonus Synergy: Moderate. Evasion allows for more front-lining, others not really useful.

Lancaster: Cable Winch, Restock, Whitewash. CW traps them into melee with you, restock drone is some nice team support, and whitewash can slow enemies for pankrati as well as supporting allies and saving civilians. IPSN Core Bonus Synergy: !ridiculously high! Formorian Frame increases combat presence, since threat 3 extends from all tiles, and taking house guard will allow you to acquire guardian to be an incredibly defender presence. Gyges frame is obviously threat 4 whip but also shoutout to +1 acc Hull for further enhancing survivability. lots of nasty things are hull saves. and Reinforced Frame of course further enhances your natural regen.

Rhythm of Affirmation  (part two – part one is here)

Renarin finds himself a sought-after bachelor after all. It’s a fruitless endeavour, ladies. Aaah, the fluff. A particular shoutout and thanks to the lovely people on the Bridge Four discord server for helping fine tuning the dialogue 💕 Finding ways to depict rhythms is an interesting challenge, especially with RoW and more listener and singer POVs in mind :)

image description below:

[ID: Page 9 / Five panels Upper row left: Renarin staring at the floor in front of him: „Brightness Jaral this time.“ Upper row middle: Close-up of his face „Alt feels like it is getting worse.“ Upper row right: Close-up of Renarin’s hands. His left hand’s fingernails are digging into the back of his right hand. „Adolin saved me, but then even he was joking that … now that he was married…“ Lower row left: zoom out to Renarin, head and hunched up shoulders. He is blushing in his cheeks and ears „I too could…choose…“ Lower row right: Rlain’s face side glancing at him with a light amused expression, a white line implying the rhythm he is humming audibly.

Page 10 / 5 panels Upper left panel: Rlain is visible cut off in the foreground. Renarin is looking at him angrily still scratching the back of his hand: „That is not funny!“ Upper right panel: Rlain: “You’re right. I’m sorry.“ He gently takes Renarin’s right wrist in his own hand. Middle panel: close-up of Renarin’s right hand in Rlain’s. The scratches are visible on the back of his hand. Rlain is lightly caressing it with his thumb. The light carapace on the back of his hand and fingers sets itself off against his dark skin. Rlain: „Did she press the matter that much?“ Lower left panel: Renarin is holding his head with his free hand: „No, but she was really direct. Even suggested that we… could be…“ Lower right panel: slight zoom in on him. He looks dismayed and a bit horrified „…intimate.“

Page 11 / 6 panels Upper left panel: Rlain and Renarin are silently sitting next to each other. Rlain is amiably watching his friend while Renarin absentmindedly fidgets with one of Rlain’s carapaced fingers. Upper right panel: Rlain: „Does the though of someone  wanting to mate with you repel you that much?“ Middle left panel: Renarin looks at Rlain, taken aback. „What? No!“ Middle right panel: He glances to the side in confused frustration. „Yes?“ Lower left panel: „Not with someone acting like her!“  Lower right panel: Renarin sighs and lets his head hang.

Page 12 /  7 panels Upper left panel: Again they sit in silence. Rlain still watching while Renarin plays with one of his fingers.  Upper right panel: close-up of Renarin glancing down at their hands. Middle left panel: close-up of Renarin’s index finger tracing along the rim of the carapace on the back of Rlain’s hand.  Middle center panel: Renarin’s face looking down again. His face seems a bit wistful. Middle right panel: Both hands, Renarin’s  ishovering above Rlain’s palm, softly touching here and there. lower left panel: Renarin dares a glance upward to Rlain, his blush returning. Lower right panel: Rlain and Renarin sitting next to each other, Renarin turned his flushed face away from Rlain with an almost pouty expression. Rlain states attuned to amusement: „You are making a lot of funny faces right now.“

Page 13 / 5 panels Three panels upper row: Renarin seems to collect his thoughts and his courage. He looks away from Rlain: „For a partner I’d rather…“ he cautiously glances back towards Rlain „… have someone I can easily talk to.“ Two lower panels:  They silently stare at each other. Then Rlain jaw drops, as the implication seeps in. Renarin pulls away his hand from Rlain’s and calls defensively „Now you’re the one making a funny face!“

Page 14 / 4 panels Upper panel: Rlain grabs Renarin’s hand again, taking it in both his own and talks to Peace: „I am just surprised“. Renarin sits huddled, staring downwards, but his body is facing is listener friend. Lower three panels: Renarin stares at him with wide eyes. Rlain slowly guides Renarin’s hand towards his neck, placing it on a piece of carapace that sits on the height of his throat.

Page 15 / 4 panels Upper left panel: soft curvy lines in the background depict a lively rhythm coming from where Renarin’s hand is placed. With half-closed eyes he is trying to read the rhythm under his fingertips. Upper right panel: Suddenly he seem to have found the meaning of what Rlain was attuning to and looks directly at him, his face full of excitement and surprise.  Lower panel: They both smile broadly at each other.  Below is a small, horizontal title card: „Rhythm of Affirmation“]

finally

feral boys x streamer!reader (separate)

genre: fluff, crack

warning(s): none

synopsis: the feral boys finally meet their favorite streamers

dreamwastaken / clay

word count: 407

the day you met dream, you were on the phone with your best friend george, also known as georgenotfound

the day you met dream, you were on the phone with your best friend george, also known as georgenotfound

he was speedrunning on stream while you were on a discord call with him

his viewers knew who you were, not only because you were george’s best friend but also because you were a streamer too

you weren’t a big one but well known for how well you play battle box in mcc

george was about to end his stream after an unsuccessful speed run when he asked you something

“you know dream right?”

“yeah, of course, he’s one of your other best friends” you answered

“are you okay with me adding him to the call?” he asked you.

“uh sure, but aren’t you gonna end stream?” 

“no, i will after this.” he giggled

“why? are you trying to embarrass one of us?” you asked him suspiciously.

“you don’t have to worry about that.” 

you heard a ding from discord, indicating that someone joined your voice chat

“hello? dream?” george asked.

“george. why? why are you doing this to me?” dream asked.

“hi dream,” you smiled.

“uh, hi. hi (y/n).”

“george why did you add me to the call?” he asked george.

“well, i know how much you like watching their stream. and considering you’re both my best friends, why not introduce you! perfect right? anyways. i’m gonna end my stream now. let’s raid karl. and you two can talk to each other. bye now!” he left the call so now it was just you and dream in the vc

it really warmed your heart that someone with such a big platform liked watching your streams since it had been quite hard to gain a following since you started streaming

“hi dream,” you said once again

he sighed. “hi (y/n).” “i really didn’t want him to do that, i didn’t want this to be the first time we meet, you know. i just love watching your streams so much and i wanted it to, honestly, be in person. but you know, george does what he thinks he shou-”

“it’s okay dream, i’ve actually been looking forward to meeting you, considering you’re also one of george’s best friends. but i do agree, he does tend to do whatever he puts his mind to.”

after you calmed his nerves, his conversation skills skyrocketed and the conversations flowed very easily

you guys spent the rest of the night talking 

georgenotfound / george

word count: 326

being a minecraft streamer and a hypebeast got you some recognition

you were a hypebeast model on instagram and when you had announced you started streaming minecraft on twitch you had grown pretty easily

it didn’t take you time before you were invited to join mcc

not just because you had a big following but because you were actually really good at playing

since you didn’t really know any other mc streamers you got placed in a group with people you had never met

their names were Ph1lzA, WilburSoot, and GeorgeNotFound

the first time you talked to them, they welcomed you with open arms and we so nice

“hi (y/s/n)! i’m philza but you can just call me phil,” he introduced.

“hi phil!” you responded.

“i’m wilbur, is this gonna be your first mcc?” wilbur asked.

“yeah, it is. i’m actually really nervous.” you laughed a bit, to get the nerves out.

“ah okay, well no worries. we were all beginners before. don’t worry about trying to score high, just have fun!” phil assured.

“we’re just waiting for one other person and we’ll get started on the practice.” phil continued.

“okie dokie,” you said. you put yourself on mute and wiped the sweat off your hands on your pants. 

“hello, hello, sorry i’m late. had trouble starting the server.” you heard. 

“well nice of you to join us george.” wilbur said.

“yeah, yeah. hi philza, hi wilbur, hi (y/s/n)- wait, (y/s/n)??” he stuttered

“hi george?,” you said softly.

“oh my god, i’ve watched your streams before, they’re really cool. i enjoy watching them.” he rambled.

you giggled

“well thank you,” you said, still giggling a little.

for the rest of the day you all practiced, everyone giving you pointers, but george watching carefully to make sure you understood the pointers you were getting

and if you didn’t then he knew to tell you which part you were kind of misunderstanding

sapnap

word count: 398

you met sapnap long before you became a streamer

you were a big fan of sapnap

and one day you ran into him in public

it was a short interaction but it really meant a lot to you

so you asked for a picture to remember the moment by

after you took the picture you said your goodbyes and you were extremely excited

a few weeks after than interaction you had made the decision to start streaming

you were thinking about becoming one for a long time and after meeting sapnap you made your decision 

because you wanted to be the type of person sapnap was to you

and be a person someone looked up to and meet people that felt the way about you that you feel about sapnap

you’d been a streamer for a few months when you got a raid from sapnap himself

his viewers were suggesting he raided you so he did

you freaked out, you gained a small following and the fact that sapnap decided to raid you? amazed

but what you didn’t know was that he kept watching you

after he saw how appreciative you were he wanted to watch more and he got intrigued

so he followed you and started watching your streams almost every time you streamed whenever he wasn’t busy

after about 2 years of streaming you got a very big following

your supporters were stalking your twitter and found the picture of you and sapnap when you both met

they then began to repost it on twitter tagging the both of you

you saw it and replied, “LMAO i look so small. but big shoutout to sapnap for raiding me as a small streamer and making all this possible <3″

he saw your reply and his eyes went big

HE MET YOU BEFORE!??

he then proceeded to respond to your tweet, “we’ve met before??”

and it went back and forward

“yeah, it was before i was a streamer, we met at like.. the grocery store lol”

“i literally had no idea you were a fan of me”

“yup, i’ve been for the past 3 years”

“dude after i raided you i started watching your streams and you became my favorite streamer”

“well,, you’re still my favorite streamer ;)” 

after that sapnap dmd you asking if you guys could meet in person again

and who could pass up that offer

karl jacobs

word count: 510

you and karl met at twitchcon

you had recently become a big streamer and this was your 2nd time going to twitchcon

1st time having a meet and greet

meeting your supporters meant so much to you 

you finally get to give each of them a hug, and it may not be all of them but seeing this many people come out to meet you meant more than anyone could imagine

but being at twitchcon also meant you could meet your streamer friends 

which made everything 10x more exciting

you decided to meet up with your friend, valkyrae and you guys were going to a creator party

when you finally got to see her you gave her a huge hug that lasted a while because it was the first time you were meeting in person

once you both reached the venue of where the party was being held you all met up with your other friends. you hadn’t met any of them in person but rae had

you saw sykkuno, lily, michael, toast, and a few other people and smiled really big, excited to see all of them

you finally got to them and pulled them into a group hug

“you guys!! oh my god it feels so good to finally meet all of you!” you said.

“it’s nice to meet you in person, (y/n).” sykkuno said smiling at you

you let go of the hug and remembered everyone else that they were with

“hi! i’m (y/s/n) but you can just call me (y/n),” you said with a smile.

“this is karl, poki, and scarra.” toast introduced.

you saw karl and poki whispering to each other while you got into a conversation with everyone else.

poki coughed and said, “hey guys! don’t we have to go to that thing, right? that thing.” hinting at something, looking between you and karl.

you’re pretty sure everyone caught on and they all agreed.

“oh yeah! that thing!”

“yeah, we should probably go!”

“yup, don’t wanna be late to that thing.”

you looked at them with an unimpressed look as they walked away, looking behind their shoulders to see you and karl standing there.

“hi, i’m-i’m karl, i’m sorry about that. i just told poki that you’re like literally my favorite streamer and i guess she wanted us to talk more? i don’t know, but it’s really nice to meet you.” karl said.

you laughed as you quickly understood your friends weird behavior

“yeah, you raided me a few times- thank you for that by the way. it helped me a lot in growing my fanbase and i don’t think i’d be where i am if you hadn’t raided me.” you smiled at him. he beamed and smiled back at you.

“yeah, no, it was no problem. like i said you’re literally my favorite streamer and being able to help you with that is absolutely insane to me.”

for the rest of the party, your friends could see both of you talking the night away

and maybe even dance together

quackity

word count: 428

finding out what to do for stream was kinda hard when pretty much all your friends were busy

but then you got a text from karl, asking if you wanted to play jackbox with him and a few friends

you accepted, knowing you wouldn’t have anything else to stream

in the lobby it would be you, karl, dream, sapnap and a few other people you didn’t know

when it was finally time to play, you started up your stream and introduced what you’d be playing that night

“hey guys, welcome welcome, welcome. today i’m gonna be playing jackbox with karl, dream, sapnap, and a few other of karls friends.” 

you joined the vc and immediately heard a lot of boys talking very loudly

you let out a small, “hello?” 

somehow everyone heard you and stopped talking

“(y/n)!” karl yelled out.

dream and sapnap let out a “hi, (y/n)” and you said hello back.

“hi everyone, i’m (y/s/n) but you all can call me (y/n)” you introduced yourself.

eveyrone else said hi and introduced themselves

you found out you were playing with quackity, wilbur, tommy, and techno too

during mad verse city karl was going against quackity and his rap went something like this

“you talk so weird, i’m gonna need translator, next time (y/n)’s here they’re gonna be a hater, because your big crush on them i’ll see ya later”

your mouth was wide open while all the boys started teasing quackity

“what the fuck! i don’t have a crush on them!” 

quackity ended up losing that one.

after the game and you ended you stream you asked quackity to stay

“hi quackity,” you said, with an energetic voice

“... hey, (y/n)” 

“sooo, was what karl said true?” you asked.

“mm not necessarily. it’s not that i have a crush on you. you’re.. just my favorite streamer and you know. this is the first time i’m meeting you and i was telling all of them that i’m nervous because i’ve never talked to you before and i think you’re a great streamer and that you put out really funny content and i didn’t wanna embarrass myself but. karl did that for me.” he rambled

you giggled

“i think that’s really cute. thank you for supporting me. you can dm me on twitter or discord if you ever wanna play sometime.” you told him and left the vc.

you then saw all the boys you were playing with pile into the vc and you could only imagine what they were talking about.

Hey crim!

I’m pretty new to writing and after looking through a few of your works I wanna say that they are awesome

I was wondering if you had any writing tip/general things you try to keep in mind with writing

Have a good day :D

Hello anon! Thank you, that's really sweet :)

And I know you've probably heard it before, but practice. Practice practice practice. My secret to both my writing style and fast typing skills is that I used to roleplay in discord servers, for a solid 3 years, most days. Spending hours and hours just storytelling through words was invaluable practice and I'm so glad I made the friends I did. The real benefits of that is the real-time nature of it: especially when in a group setting, if you take too long to respond, you're gonna get left behind. You can't sit and consider your answer to a question forever: you just get in character and go with the first thing that comes to mind for them. Inevitably you make mistakes: I made many, some worse than others (shoutout to that one time I derailed a whole event on my second day doing it - if you don't understand the rules, ask!), but doing that helped me immensely to beat the perfectionist in me and just get the words on the page. If you don't have a convenient roleplay group on hand, that's fine - I'd suggest just doing some rubbish drafts for practice. They're going to be so bad, you don't even have to edit them. Just write the most over-egged/boring scenes you can think of, quickly as you can, and shelve them. Remember, you can't edit in a real-time event! You'll improve naturally, and eventually, when your curiosity gets the better of you, you'll want to come back and review and critique your own writing and see where to improve.

And if you were looking for something else: my most searched term is 'synonyms for x'. Sometimes the right word just won't come. It's fine. Also, do your research ahead of time. 1) It takes time, and there's nothing more frustrating than setting aside an hour to write and only writing for 20 minutes because you were digging through 1800s medical journals about hypothermia. And 2) It allows you to read the facts, absorb and digest them, maybe have them to quickly reference, but they're already in there when you get going. Then, you can work off the dramatic energy and keep the action moving.

I hope that was helpful! Good luck in your writing endeavours :)

Alchemy Lullaby (5/?)

Of all the changes that came with living in the castle, becoming a father was not one he anticipated. When Eugene encounters a small child suffering like he did, he gives them the opportunity to grow up the way he never did… helping them both heal. (AU where Varian is 4 and gets adopted by Eugene)

Chapter 5: Varian has been kidnapped, and his family tries to save him.

SORRY this took a lot longer than I planned because school wiped me tf out. Warnings for child abuse (kinda?) some violence. Shoutout to the scar Varian discord server, AJ, Izaak, and Ten, all of whom helped me figure out some stuff for the AU! And to all of you! The response to this has been. Incredible.

I PROMISE this is the last plot heavy chapter for a lil while. The next few are just gonna be fluffy oneshots with baby mischief. Because after this, we’ll all need that.

Rapunzel gasped for breath as she skidded around the corridor. She’d been perfectly content, finishing up her portrait, when she’d looked up only to find an empty stool. That wasn’t too concerning, since Varian had a habit of wandering off. But she’d checked all his usual haunts by now, from the library’s kids section to the kitchen. Heck, she even checked to see if he’d taken a nap in his room (even though he despised them)! But he was nowhere in sight. 

“Varian!” She called. “Varian, if you’re playing Hide and Seek you’re supposed to tell the seeker!” 

So focused was she, the princess nearly bumped into two massive men striding down the hall. “Oh!” she gasped. “Dad! Hi, have you seen Varian?”

“Hello to you too, Rapunzel,” His father smiled. “Not since breakfast, I don’t think. Quirin?”

The man shook his head. “I’m sorry your Highness. If I see him I’ll send him your way. Varian is the little boy with the blue hair, yes? Doesn’t he normally shadow that Eugene fellow?”

It was like a light went off in Rapunzel’s mind. “Oh!” She gasped. Of course! Varian was awfully impatient, he’s probably helping Cass and Eugene! 

“Ok thanks bye!” She cried, racing back the way she came, leaving the two men alone in the hallway.

“...So, how are you taking to being a grandfather?” Quirin asked.

“Never say that to me again.”

“Understood.”

-

Rapunzel took off towards the dungeons, and sure enough, she could hear multiple loud voices. 

“Sounds like my plan…” Her voice trailed off in horror. She found Varian alright! And there were her two friends… still in prison. “Cass! Eugene! How did this happen?” She bit her lip, eyes wildly searching for an explanation. 

For a moment, everyone was still. No one dared to breathe. The air was thick with tension and panic. 

Varian wasn’t sure what was going on, but he did know that the mean men holding him descended on him like vultures. When he’d raced down the dungeon steps to come face to face with the escaped criminals, he had been too scared to even speak. They had taken one look at him, and grinned.

“You must be the kid Rider loves so much,” Sideburns had said, and his brother stepped forward. He’d advanced on Varian until the child’s back collided with a wall, and then scooped him up. And now these men were grinning at Eugene with shark-tooth smiles.

Soft hiccups escaped his mouth. He wanted all of this to be over! He wanted the men to let him go, Rapunzel to hug him tight, and Eugene to read to him in bed. He just wanted this all to be a bad dream. 

It wasn’t a dream, but it was Eugene’s worst nightmare. He took in Varian so the child would never experience what he did growing up. He took him in so Varian would never have to resort to crime, never have the enemies Eugene did, never live in constant fear, constant flux. And while it was true Varian would never want for anything as a citizen of the castle, he now suffered because of Eugene’s past. The past he never wanted Varian to have to see or experience.  

He couldn’t even muster his mask. The anxiety rushed through his veins. That was his kid in danger. 

Eugene’s hands slammed onto the cell bars. “Let him go. Now!” He barked. “Come on, guys, your beef is with me! You really gonna take it out on a kid? He has nothing to do with it!”

If anything, Patches gripped the boy tighter. Varian let out a whimper, kicking his feet in an attempt to free himself. But to him, it was like trying to topple a brick wall. 

Sideburns laughed. “Oh no, Rider, this has everything to do with him. See, we were going to kill you, but that seems… too kind. This,” He waltzed over and gripped pudgy cheeks. “This seems a much more fitting punishment. All you can do is sit and watch as we make sure you never see your son ever again.” Ice filled Eugene’s veins. They wouldn’t…. Would they?

He couldn’t take those chances. “No!” Eugene screamed, banging his fists against the cell door. “Take me instead! Kill me! Do whatever you want to me, just please, let him go!”

Varian only struggled more at Eugene’s distress. Never see Eugene again…? No! That sounded horrible! He didn’t want to go anywhere with these scary men, he’d rather go back to his momma!

Meanwhile, Cassandra grit her teeth. Until she was free, there was nothing she could do to help. And even then, they had a hostage. One that Cass would prefer to keep unharmed. Where did Rapunzel even put the key? She took it from her dad, did she give it back?

As if her thoughts summoned him, the Captain of the Guard’s voice rang out. “The Stabbingtons have escaped!” He called, and a smattering of footsteps followed. Guards poured into the dimly lit hallway, only to falter at the scene. It must’ve been a real sight, the prisoners out of their cells and the citizens locked in.

Patches grabbed a halberd laying against the wall and held it up to the small child’s neck. “Nobody moves,” Sideburns warned. The guards, who held their crossbows ready to fire, all faltered. 

“Eugene!” Varian sobbed. “Eugene, please help!” The man let out a cry of despair, rattling the bars in a frantic attempt to get to the toddler. 

The Captain seemed to finally notice them in there. “Cassandra?”

“Dad!” She cried. 

“Quiet!” Sideburns roared. The halberd inched closer to Varian’s neck. It nicked him ever so slightly, and the child weeped. Tears dropped onto the silver of the weapon.

“If you know what’s good for the kid, I suggest you put your weapons down.” The large man said. Slowly but surely the guards lowered their weapons one by one. What were they supposed to do? Shoot a child? An actual child who had been adopted by the princess’s boyfriend?

Soft footsteps were the only sound. The Stabbingtons slowly backed up, inching away with Varian still in their grasp. They turned the corner, and just like that, Eugene had lost his child after only a few short weeks.

The captain rushed to move once the brothers were out of sight. He dug the keys out and with a clink, unlocked the cell keeping Eugene and Cassandra. 

Like a shot from a canon, Eugene broke into a sprint, bolting after the men who stole his Varian. He used to wonder how the King and Queen felt, how awful the pain must’ve been when they lost Rapunzel. He now regrets ever wondering. It was an awful, all encompassing sadness that threatened to swallow him whole and leave him empty. He had been completely powerless to stop the Stabbingtons from kidnapping Varian in the first place. He’d fought with Cassandra, he’d sent Varian down to High Security to go retrieve a jack– Varian could’ve easily gone and got the guard, or hell, Rapunzel! He could’ve told Rapunzel that he saw they completed the game, please let them out! Instead, he hadn’t considered the dangers down below. And now his boy was suffering because of it.

Oh who was he kidding. He kept trying to say Varian was just his ward, his kid, dancing around the s word. But with the threat of never seeing him again, Eugene was no longer willing to deny it.

Varian was his son. 

And Varian was in danger. 

His eyes stung with unshed tears, lungs burning and legs pounding on the pavement. 

He heard the telltale sounds of someone catching up beside him. He glanced over, expecting it to be Rapunzel, but instead found it to be Cassandra. They skidded around another corner just in time to see the Stabbingtons enter a small tunnel. 

The whole time Varian cried and struggled. Patches had thrown Varian over his shoulder, and while the child kicked and hit, it was to no effect. He sobbed his little heart out as he was forced down into the tunnels. Eventually, the Stabbingtons had had enough. 

Sideburns grabbed his face. “Shut up or I’ll gag you.” 

“I don’t know what that means!” 

“If you’re quiet you won’t have to find out.”

The little boy screwed his eyes shut, desperately trying to quell his sobs. Deep breaths, in and out, just like Rapunzel showed him when he scraped his knee. 

“Varian!”

Varian’s head snapped up. Hope glistened in his young eyes. It was Eugene and Cassie! They raced towards him, trying to catch up to the Stabbingtons.

Patches scowled. He threw Varian to the ground, and the child hit the floor with a cry of pain. Dust billowed up around him, coating his pants. A sharp rock caught onto his arm, and Varian had to swallow down a fresh onslaught of tears. He didn’t want to get into more trouble. 

The ginger-haired man brought his full weight onto the wooden support pillar once, twice, three times, and it splintered. The tunnel shook, severely weakened without its support. Eugene and Cassandra sprinted the remaining feet, barely managing to dive towards the kidnappers and avoid the oncoming rockslide. Debris clouded the musky hallway, and when the dust settled, it was just them. 

No guards and no Rapunzel. They were on their own. 

...Unarmed.

Undeterred, Cassandra lowered into a fighting position, fists raised and ready to punch. She leaped forward, landing a solid punch onto Patches. He fell back and hissed in pain. The halberd clattered to the floor, and Varian scrambled on top of it. It was far too large for him to use, but he managed to get it upright.

Rising to his full height, Patches threw a punch at Cassandra. The woman was short enough to duck, sliding around his hulking form to avoid hit after hit. But she couldn’t take him down, not on her own. 

A quick glance over her shoulder saw Eugene had begun to fight with Sideburns. The ex thief snarled at his old ally, all charm and false pretenses gone. But for all of his determination, Sideburns managed to land a few hits, and it quickly became apparent that neither of them could defeat these large men at hand to hand. 

“Varian!” Cassandra called. “The halberd, give it to me!”

The child whimpered. “I-I’m not supposed to listen to you!” If he misbehaved, bad things happened! Momma always told him the destruction that followed them was his fault. If only he behaved!

Eugene grunted as he dodged a mean left hook. “Varian, I shouldn’t have told you that! I was just trying to upset Cassandra!” He kicked at Sideburns’s legs, but the man was a brick shithouse. “You don’t have to do everything I say, because half the time I don’t know if I’m making the right call!”

Another dodge. “Half?” Cassandra grunted.

Eugene rolled his eyes. “Ok, most of the time. Give her the halberd!” 

That was all it took. Varian dropped the halberd right into Cassandra’s path, and she grabbed it. The weapon twirled once, twice, and then the flat side whacked Patches, sending him sprawling. 

“Now that’s how you use a halberd,” Eugene called, and the handmaiden smirked. 

“Nice job, kid.” She said. Varian gave her a shaky smile. Now, to help Eugene…

Said man let out a cry of pain. Sideburns landed a hard hit on his face, and he was sent sprawling. 

“Oi, watch the merchandise,” He moaned. 

“You know, we were going to let you live, just without your kid,” The towering criminal growled, fire in his eyes. “But I think I’ve changed my mind.”

Varian stood in horror, watching as Cassandra tried to cross the battlefield to help, but she couldn’t stop the kick Eugene got to his face. He hit the wall with a crack.

The little child shook in terror. He’d been kidnapped, held at knifepoint, threatened, and now Eugene, his Eugene, was about to die. The terror had been steadily building, he’d only just managed to stop crying, but to think of a life without Eugene? 

Would he go back on the streets? Back to his momma? Would Rapunzel and Cassie blame him? If only he’d been smarter, if only he hadn’t gotten kidnapped, Eugene would still be there!

A stream of blood dripped down Eugene’s nose.

The terror went into overdrive.

Varian screamed. 

The earth began to rumble, pebbles jumping up and down from the floor. A deep groan came from the earth, and the tunnel around them began to crack. The small child’s hair began to float, unaffected by gravity, and his hairstripe glowed brighter and brighter, until it shone like a star in the sky. 

From behind Varian, large obsidian rocks sprouted. They sped towards Sideburns, growing bigger and thicker, snaking towards the man. He only had enough time to look up in shock before the rocks sent him flying. He hit the rocks from the earlier cave-in and crumpled beside his brother with a groan. 

The earth stopped rumbling. The tunnel settled. Varian’s hair fell back down over his face. 

Eugene blinked in shock. One moment he was about to die, the next, large black rocks came in and finished the battle. He’d heard from Cassandra and Rapunzel about the rocks that grew back her hair, these must be the same ones.

But how did they get there…?

“Eugene!”

He barely had any time to think before a blur collided with his chest. Varian gripped onto his vest and wailed, burrowing his face as deep as it could go. 

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, you were super brave today,” Eugene whispered, wrapping his arms around the trembling child. “It’s over, you’re ok. We just gotta… get out of here…” 

Cassandra poked at the rocks. While they had saved the day, they now blocked their only escape. 

“Cass? Eugene? Varian?” Rapunzel’s voice floated down. They glanced up, and the princess was peering down from a small hole in the ceiling. Moonlight filtered through and settled on them like a spotlight. “Is everyone ok?” The princess asked as she let down her hair. As soon as they were all up, she wrapped the whole group in a bear hug. “No one’s hurt right? We’re all safe now?” Her eyes shone with unshed tears. 

Eugene stepped back, readjusting his grip on Varian. “Yea. We’re safe now.”

-

The walk back to the castle was quiet. The Captain took on rearresting the Stabbingtons, letting everyone head to their rooms to recoup from today’s insane events. 

“I’m so sorry, for everything,” Rapunzel moaned. “I shouldn’t have done that, I should’ve helped you talk it out, and then I let Varian out of my sight, and-”

Eugene wrapped one arm around his girlfriend. The other supported a dozing Varian. “Hey, hey, Blondie, it’s ok.” 

“Yea, we all made mistakes today,” Cassandra piped up. “...But Eugene started it.”

“I did not!”

“Did too!”

Rapunzel groaned, but smiles on all their faces gave away that none of it was serious. The rest of the trek back to the castle was devoted to filling Rapunzel in.

“The black rocks…?” She asked. “The ones that gave me back my hair?”

Cassandra nodded. She gazed off into the distance, deep in thought. “I wonder if they responded to your distress? Or maybe it was just a coincidence?” 

 “Eh, who cares. They did a good job! Go team.” Eugene shrugged. “I say we worry about it another time. Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I am exhausted, so I’m gonna put this little guy to sleep and then turn in,” Eugene began, but stopped when Varian began to whimper. 

The toddler clutched onto Eugene like a lifeline, shaking his head violently. “Please, no, don’t leave me,” He whispered. “I don’ wanna be alone, please don’t leave me.” 

The last time he got that upset… the last time the black rocks appeared…

That had been the last straw for momma. She’d left him not a week later. 

Eugene glanced nervously and Rapunzel and Cassandra. As much as he wanted to help Varian, he was way out of his depth. Dealing with a trauma like this…

Cassandra thought for a second before speaking. “Hey, I have an idea. Rapunzel’s bed is pretty big, why don’t we all have a big sleepover? Would you like that?” She ran gentle fingers through Varian’s hair. The child melted into her touch.

“Yea, ok.”

The man breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” he murmured, and Cassandra gave him a smile back. She moved to brush some dirt off Varian’s shirt, and in the process, moved his shirt sleeve.

“Nooooo,” Varian moaned sleepily. He kicked his legs. “My shirt stays!”

The handmaiden rolled her eyes. “I don’t get it. That has to be uncomfortable. Why do you insist on rolling your sleeves up?”

Varian yawned, curling up in Eugene’s arms. He spoke like the answer was obvious. “‘Cuz that’s how Eugene wears ‘em. I wanna be like him.” With that, he finally fell asleep.

The kid sure was something else, it seemed.

But they could handle him if they all worked together. 

-

“They’re here?” Quirin breathed. “In the castle?”

“The tunnels beneath the castle,” Frederick groaned, running his hand down his face. “If Ulla is telling the truth, then its source is somewhere here.”

“We will find it,” Quirin insisted. “And when we find it… we must destroy it.”

I HIGHKEY LOVE YOUR TODOROKI ANGST! I. NEED. MORE. can you please make a angst scenario of Todoroki and a fem!reader with a quirk that makes her live forever. I wanna see how you'll make my heart ache with this 👀. Love you so much!!!!!!!

a/n: thank you,,,, you asked for angst, You got angst. Love you too anon!!! I added a twist to the quirk as well. Shoutout to the betas from the bnha x reader discord server for helping me with corrections. I’m so so so so so thankful to the people who took their time off to beta this 💕

Promise to Neverland 

“Peter Pan and I have similar quirks.” you said softly, looking at the children’s book. Your small child hands lifted the book up from the table then placed it back on the bookshelf.

“Huh? Does Peter Pan even have a quirk”

You shook your head. “I don’t think so. He just lives forever,” you stated.

“Then we can be like Peter Pan and Wendy” The young boy with those deep blue and grey orbs had suggested with a blush tinted on his cheeks but you frantically shook your head in disapproval.

“Silly! I should be Wendy and You should be Peter Pan since I’m the girl” You huffed, puffing your cheeks.

“You said you’re like Peter Pan…” Shoto trailed off. “So Wendy is the one who lives normally”

“I know…” You sighed in disappointment. “I don’t want that… Peter Pan and Wendy’s story end badly. Peter is stuck in Neverland and Wendy grows up and never sees him again. I…” You trailed off, trying to hold your tears back.

“I don’t want to say goodbye!” you yelled with tears pricking the end of your eyes.

Shoto walked forward and engulfed you into a warm, gentle hug which you were too upset to even return. “I promise to never say goodbye.”

You finally returned the hug. “Promise? Promise to the second star to the right and straight on till morning”

He pulled away and smiled at you. “Promise to the second star to the right and straight on till morning”

Promises were meant to live on forever. However, they were made in such a naive stage of life when you were both unaware of the fact that unlike promises, those who make them don’t live on forever.

———-

Growing up, your appearance had only moderately changed. Your quirk allowed you to stop and slow down time in certain objects. Due to a malfunction of your quirk, you had accidentally used it on yourself, causing you to age differently. Even with that, you were able to still be cared for by your best friend, the boy whom you had met and befriended merely through your parent’s connections.

 Shoto was there for you when things went downhill, just as you were there for him in his lowest points in life. Here you were, a second year in junior high school, training with him while your face was burning red. He was panting heavily with his face inches from yours.

 You were just about to fall from tripping on one of the small ice shards he had created. You had coincidentally stopped time around you two while his arm was around your upper body.

Once the realization of the situation had dawned over you, your face combusted into a deeper red causing you two both to lose balance. Your quirk had deactivated making you both fall as his grip on you loosened.

“I’m so sorry Shoto!” You quickly apologized getting up. He dusted his clothes off and stood up. “It’s fine. We both need practice with our quirks to become stronger.”

 “Promise you’ll stick with me forever. No matter what happens, we tell each other anything and everything if we want to. Best friends forever.” You firmly stated, however, your heart had somehow felt as if it had twisted when you had said the last few words.

He looked at you with a confused expression before nodding with certainty. “Sure”. With that, you unknowingly forced on a smile.

 ——–

“Gahhhh! I really envy you L/n! You still have such perfect skin and a cute babyface!” Ashido whined as you walked with her to the classroom.

“It’s just a side effect of my quirk… it happened when I was young causing me to age slower” you chuckled awkwardly, attempting to make your friends calm down.

 “Yeah but, that’s so cool, We’re gonna be grandmas while you’re gonna look like you’re 40! You look like a Junior High Schooler!” Ochako smiled. “Plus your quirk is awesome! Time manipulation!” she awed.

 “It really isn’t much of a big deal compared to you two- oh! Shoto!” You called out immediately as you saw your dual color haired friend. You ran up to his table and smiled. “Good morning.” you greeted.

 “Good morning Y/n.” He greeted in return while you took your seat beside him. “I’d like to ask you something.” He said causing you to turn your attention back to him.

 “Yeah? What’s up?” you inquired.

He looked around the classroom to see that not many people had arrived yet. It was just Uraraka, Iida, and Ashido who were all gathered in Iida’s table, possibly talking about something.

“I like someone,” he said.

You opened your mouth to reply. However, once the words had processed into your mind, you slowly pursed your lips together. You were unsure of what to say. Did you understand and hear correctly?

 “Y-you like someone?” You questioned hesitantly and he nodded and you felt your throat run dry. “I like many people as well. I mean, you like me, Midoriya, our classmates, your siblings, our teachers, of course. How would you be close to everyone if you disliked them?” You laughed, attempting to make your assumption of it to just be a misunderstanding. It couldn’t be that. Right?.

“I believe you misunderstood. I…” He paused clearing his throat. “I like someone, in a romantic sense.”

Your face paled as your eyes dilated. Was he joking? Were you dreaming? How could it be? Your mouth stayed slightly agape as you observed him. He was as stoic as ever, but he seemed to be avoiding your gaze; his cheeks were tinted with a slight, barely visible pink.

 “Who is it?” You inquired, holding onto the hope that it could be you. “If you don’t mind me asking that is.” You added with a small chuckle after.

 He looked back at you straight in the eye, causing a light blush to dust your cheeks… You always got flustered whenever you would meet the gaze of his mismatched, beautiful irises.

 “Promise you wouldn’t tell anyone.” He asserted. Back then, it would usually be you who would initiate promises, out of mere childhood spirit.

 You nodded, your anxiety growing and adrenaline levels rising. “Promise.”

 “Yaoyorozu. I like Yaoyorozu,” He stated.

 You bit your tongue to hold back from saying anything in spite. You finally managed to regain control of your composure and let out a deep breath. “Really? That’s good I guess.” You smiled. “What made you like- I mean, realize you like her?” You asked, stomach churning at your words.

 “I realized it when I began feeling differently whenever I would talk to her. I felt… calmer and happier. I began to take notice of small things she would do. I began to see her as more than a classmate, more than an acquaintance….” he said trailing off.

 “Oh I see, I guess I just misunderstood what you had said” you laughed timidly. “I.. I’m proud of you. If you want to talk about it, feel free to approach me anytime.” you grinned.

 He gave you a soft smile while nodding, “Thank you.”

 “No problem! After all, we made a promise back then that we’d tell each other everything and anything; stay together forever,” you responded.

 “Right. Thank you once again” he said.

 “You don’t need to,” you said awkwardly laughing.

 “Apologies. You’re like a younger sister to me” he said. You looked down to your hands to calm the even stronger aching in your heart. Before you could respond, you immediately spotted Yaoyorozu.

 “I’ll go to my seat. My stomach isn’t feeling well” you said, turning around to walk over to your seat. Shoto tilted his head slightly in confusion and attempted to go and question if you needed anything, however, he had quickly realized that Yaoyorozu had taken her seat. His gaze shifted slowly back and forth from her and you causing his eyebrows to furrow in confusion. ‘Is Y/n trying to help me?’

 You sat down and placed your head atop your arms on the desk. You gritted your teeth trying to soothe the heavy ache and the painful throbbing of your heart… ‘He likes her and he sees me as a little sister… It’s kind of reasonable, but, if it weren’t for my quirk’s effect, would he still see me as a little sister?’

You turned back to see both Yaoyorozu and Shoto talking. ‘It might just be a crush. Crushes are sometimes things people get over.’

You nodded, happy with your homemade resolution and looked over to see Hagakure and Tsuyu already in their seats. You figured it was best to just clear your mind and you would get over it soon.

———-

If you could have gone back in time to view yourself and your decisions, you would have scoffed.

Years had passed by, but it had felt like it had only been months. You laughed as you talked to Kirishima and Kaminari, who were making jokes about how the graduation would go. The rest of your class, 3-A; the class you had been with and gone through so much from the past three years; villain attacks, various intense training sessions, life-changing events, and personal events on friendship and love. All in your togas and graduation caps, everyone was having last minute chats before the ceremony begins. There would be no telling of who would immediately be going out in the hero field or who would decide to seek higher education, but no matter what decision each one of you would make, U.A. had prepared you all for anything that would come in the future.

You chuckled, shaking your head. “All jokes aside, let’s hope that really doesn’t happen”

 Kirishima nodded with a close lidded grin. “Gotta agree with that. We wouldn’t want a goodbye scolding from Aizawa”

 “Yeah” Kaminari shivered. “But it would’ve been pretty damn funny if it happened”

 “Don’t even think about it” You and Kirishima deadpanned in sync.

“I was kidding!” He retorted

“Yeah.. anyways, let’s enjoy this day to the fullest. After all, it might be the last day we’ll see each other almost every day” You said.

 “Hey, don’t talk as if we’re all gonna die. Some of us might go to university but many would go to hero work immediately. Maybe even at the same agencies.” Kirishima replied. “What are you doing? Starting your own agency or gonna go under another agency? Since we’re all relatively popular, we’d all be either in areas like Tokyo or Musutafu”

 “Kirishima and I are temporarily gonna be under agencies which were coincidentally close to each other. We’ll check how things go and later on start our own agencies” Kaminari explained and you hummed in understanding.

 “I see, That’s a good plan” you nodded.  

 “What about you?” Kaminari inquired.

“Oh actually-” you were about to explain until you had spotted the distinct dual colored hair. “Hold on. I wanna tell Shoto first.”

 Kirishima frowned but he raised a brow. “He still doesn’t know?”

 “For someone so smart, he’s pretty stupid” Kaminari.

 “Yeah. Though it’s partially my fault…” you trailed off.

Kirishima placed a hand on your shoulder and looked at you firmly in the eye. “Hey. Don’t look so down now. Just tell him what you gotta say” he grinned and you nodded, turning around to go to his direction.

Once you were about to go and talk to Shoto, you paused your steps. He was still talking to Midoriya. ‘It’s alright, I’ve still got the rest of the day.’ You turned your heel around and walked back to the opposite direction, to your other classmates.

 The day had passed by just as smoothly as the ceremony had thankfully gone well. Midoriya had finished his final speech as one of the representatives aside from Iida. Now Aizawa, All Might, and Principal Nezu were making final remarks. You smiled softly throughout the speeches, they were all so warm and comforting. It was all over, however it was a new beginning as well. You looked to the side and saw Shoto listening intently.

 “… and once again, Class 3-A, you are all graduated. Congratulations.” Principal Nezu finally stated as everyone clapped and cheered. Oh, how you wished things would always be like this.

———

U.A held a party after the ceremony, mainly to just celebrate and have a farewell event. You stepped into the auditorium with the toga finally off revealing the semi-formal dress you wore under.

 You scanned the room to check for anyone to go and hang out with until you felt a tap on your shoulder. Your quirked a brow up, confused to who it was before you turned around and saw Shoto standing behind you. “Oh, Shoto, hey.” you greeted.

 “Hey. I’ve been looking for you” He said.

 Your cheeks flared up slightly at his words. “Oh, really?” you inquired, replying.

He nodded. “I wasn’t able to talk to you earlier before and after the ceremony. Wanna sit down?” He motioned over to a free table and you nodded.

 You both took your seats. The room was dark however, dimmed white lights were illuminating the room, along with the colorful lights that danced around. Several students, not only your class but the rest of the third year graduated batches were as well.

 “I can’t believe we made it” you started. “Yeah. After everything we’ve all gone through, It makes me glad that everyone’s happy” Shoto replied.

 “Mhm. Everyone is just smiling and enjoying their time, despite it being one of the last times we’re gonna see each other for a long time” You spoke, smiling softly yourself as you rested your cheeks in your palms..

“Right. Speaking of that, have you decided what you’re doing?” he questioned causing your eyes to brighten.

“Yeah. I wanted you to be the first to know since you’re my closest friend. The pro hero I did my work studies with this year offered to help me build my own agency” you happily said.

 His eyes widened before his features softened into a smile. “That’s great. Here in Musutafu as well?” he inquired causing you to purse your lips and shake your head.

 “Unlike your agency, here in Musutafu, I’m going to be all the way in Nagasaki,” you said, averting your gaze. “I know I won’t be as close to you and everyone and it seems like I’m being selfish but…” you trailed off, unsure and unable to even say anything.

“It’s alright,” he said. “You chose that because you want to be a hero for not only people in the main cities but in areas in the south and others” he stated. “That’s being more selfless rather than selfish,” he stated. You felt your heart skip a beat as you clenched onto the hem of your dress tightly. You smiled under your pursed lips. His words always cleared your mind and reassured you. 

You nodded and looked up to face him. Your eyes met his. It felt as if time stopped, and that was not because of your quirk. You felt your cheeks heat up even more. No, you couldn’t bear to continue like this especially when he has someone he loves. You abruptly stood up with your palms on the table and turned around. “Sorry, and thank you.  I’ll get a drink and tell everyone else before I leave tomorrow.” you excused yourself and made your way outside the auditorium to the restrooms. 

You turned the sink on and filled your hands with water then splashed it on your face. You grabbed a piece of tissue and wiped your face. Thankfully, you weren’t wearing much makeup. You looked at the mirror to see the blush fading away. You let out a groan and covered your face once again. He managed to make your heart ache, in the way that you yearned to be with him and have that immense joy whenever you were in his presence.

 You looked at your face in the mirror with a smile and furrowed brows. Starting tomorrow, you promised yourself to do your best as a hero.

——-

You adjusted to Nagasaki fairly well. It had been more or less 5 months, however, you didn’t keep track of time nor did you have much free time. You dealt with villain groups in the area, helped with rescue missions, and had just finally finished a mission regarding a black market within the villain society you had been working on ever since the start of your career, which had been the sole reason why you barely had free time.

You hung your trench coat on the coat hanger behind your office door and took a seat at your desk. You scanned through papers and files, quickly taking notice of a creme white envelope embroidered with rose gold on the sides. You tore off the seal and brought the paper inside out.

—

‘Dear Y/n,

 It has been so long since we have seen you. We understand that it is due to your hero work in Nagasaki and we’ve heard so much about it. You’re doing so well and we’re extremely happy for you. It has been so long since we’ve caught up and we understand you’re a busy person but we have wonderful news: We’re getting married. We hope you can make time to come, it will be in 4 months. You’ve made such an impact on both of our lives that we truly believe you need to be in one of the biggest times of our lives.

 Best wishes, Shoto and Momo’

—

As soon as you finished scanning the letter your heart felt as if it had stopped beating. You shook your head with your mouth agape. What was going on? It had only been 5 months since everyone had separated and graduated. Wasn’t it too early?

Your mind was filled with questions but you quickly shuffled the table making various items on the desk fall off, for your phone. You quickly scroll through your contacts and clicked on Shoto’s name.

You abruptly stood up with your phone connected to your ear and your other hand grasping onto your hair. You bit your lower lip while walking back and forth across the room, anticipating him to answer.

 “Come on, pick up, pick up. Pick-”

 “Hello?” A deep voice had responded from the other line. “Shoto!” you yelled out of relief, your chest tightened as your heart began to race faster.

 “Oh, Y/n? Hi. Are you alright? Is everything fine? You sound troubled” He replied with a worried tone.

“I’m…” you struggled to even reply. You were clearly at a disheveled state due to a reason you should be ashamed of however you chose not to say why. You breathed out deeply, “yeah I’m fine. Just tired. I received your letter”

“You have? I was planning on telling you in person. However, when I came, they said you were out” He said.

“I know. Sorry about that. So…. you and Momo are getting married?” you inquired painfully. “Yeah. I proposed a month ago.” He smiled.

“C-congratulations” You stammered. “But, isn’t it too early?” you laughed awkwardly.

“We’ve been together for almost 8 years and live together so I guess not?” He replied, confused.

“What?!” You yelled. “8 years?! It’s only been 5 months since graduation” you quickly stated.

“No,” Shoto said, confused. “It’s 20XX. It’s more or less half a decade since we graduated from U.A”

“Impossible…” You breathed out. “I-it can’t be! I mean-”

“Are you alright? Do you want me to come over?-” He questioned. “No! I’m sorry… I think I’ve been careless about the dates and I’m just tired… I’ll come to the wedding. I just need to rest for now” you sighed, tears already pricking the rims of your eyes.

“Right. Thank you, I’ll be sure to inform Momo. Get some rest and send me a text when you feel better. Bye”

“Bye” you managed to whisper before ending the call. Your hand trembled as you placed your phone on your desk. Soon after that, you slumped over to the wall and fell to the ground.

You felt sick, disgusted at yourself. You were so ignorant and busy. Part of you wanted to strangle yourself for being immensely ignorant of how time passed. However, the reason why you were being ignorant was that you carried the burden and wanted to save people’s lives. That part of you felt as if your ignorance was in the way of your love and chance to impress Shoto and possibly win him back. You were disgusted at that part of yourself. How could you ever wish that?

 Tears continuously streamed down your face as you purse your lips, biting back a wail. You continued to silently cry at the corner of your office for a while longer. You needed to vent out your emotions to properly think straight.

 Finally, you stood back up and wiped your tear stained face. You looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes were glossy and red. Sighing, you walked back to your desk and pressed the button to communicate with your assistant.

“Hello?” You called out with your voice strained. “I’d like to clear my schedule for next week Saturday and the 2nd week of 4 months later,” you said then removed your finger from the button. As soon as you had done that, you placed your head over your arms above the desk. ‘I’ll keep my word and be there. I have to’

——-

4 months had quickly passed by; those words were to be taken literally in your case.

You leaned against the wall as you watched Ochako and Mina fuss over Momo’s hair. You would’ve been doing the same; would’ve been helping her out, would’ve been panicking about the rush of time, and would’ve been happy for her.

“Y/n!” Hagakure called your name causing you to perk up. “Yeah?” you inquired and walked over to them.

 Mina immediately pouted and fixed your hair. “Quit leaning against the wall. Your hair’s getting ruined and your gown’s wrinkling”

 “Oh right.. Sorry” you apologized and decided to help out by getting a few bobby pins and cleaning a few strands of Momo’s hair out of the way. The ravenette frowned. “Are you alright Y/n? You look troubled. Shoto’s been worried and said you hadn’t been feeling well the past months”

 Your heart had suddenly began to flutter; hearing that he was worried and actually cared made you feel hopeful, just for a while, until you quickly reminded yourself about the event you were currently at. “I’m fine. I’m just really proud of you and Shoto”

 She turned to you and smiled. Oh how you wished you weren’t envious of that smile, the smile Shoto fell in love with, “Thanks”. For now, you decided to genuinely attempt to truly be happy for them, for both her smile and his to last forever.

 You suddenly flinched. “Momo! Your hair!” you yelled, causing her to immediately turn back to face the mirror. “Sorry, go on”

 You nodded and continued with her hair along with the rest of the girls.

——-

You failed to do what you had thought of just earlier in the dressing room. Throughout the entire ceremony, your heart clenched and twisted as it did before. Envy engulfed you while they said their vows; while the vows were being exchanged, you were forced to bite back a cry.

 You knew you couldn’t take it anymore, the first few hours of the party were spent alone until you finally decided to step outside.

 The party was being held at a high starred hotel by what you had presumed to form the appearance of the venue. You leaned against the railing and let a deep breath out.

 “You alright?”

 You nearly jumped at hearing a new voice. You turned around and almost froze. You turned back around and nodded. “Perfectly fine”

He walked forward next to you and did the same, leaning on the rail. “Shouldn’t you be inside… Y’know, enjoying your wedding” you spoke up, causing him to shrug.

“I am, though I saw you were alone and walked out here,” Shoto said.

“I’m fine, go back inside to Momo” you replied, brushing him off.

“Y/n” he called you out making you stiffen. “I’ve known you for almost 2 decades and I’m pretty sure I know when you’re lying.”

“Touche” you chuckled. “Things have just been hectic lately, in work-”

“Right, you were able to put an end to underground villain organizations” He replied, cutting you off and you nodded. “I guess news gets around fast”

“It does. Anyways, apologies for cutting you off. Go on” He replied.

You nodded, “Right. And personal problems”

“Such as?” he inquired making you pause. “It’s a secret” you replied.

“I don’t want to be insensitive but, we made a promise that we’ll tell each other everything” Shoto frowned. Your eyes widened at his statement, later on, your features softened finally processing his words.

“True, but I guess I’m just still unsure about it” you covered as he hummed in understanding. “It’s fine. Just tell me anything you want to and can” he stated.

“Thanks, Sho” you sighed. Silence took over as soon as you uttered those words. It was a comforting silence, that made you reminisce about the past and how simple things were, how calm and silent they were.

You decided to speak up, feeling guilty. “Time has passed by so fast.” you began, causing him to perk up and listen intently. “Honestly, I kept adding onto my own work for the wrong causes. Now that I realize it, I feel horrible, disgusted at myself. It’s been so stressful and mind breaking that I forgot about why I even became a hero… I was so congested in it that I forgot to even take time off to the point I forgot to even keep track of time” you explained.

“I believe you’re a good hero. A good person, with a good heart” he responded, making you smile. After the longest time, you had met his eyes, not in longing and pain, but in genuine, true happiness.

Out of spite, you tipped up your toes and brushed your lips against his cheek before going back down. You both met eyes once again until your action had processed in your mind, making you turn back to the door of the hotel.

“Sorry, I just felt like doing that. Y-you know, like how your mom and sister do… since I’m like your little sister as you had said years ago” You explained out of the whim. He nodded and gave a soft smile “It’s fine. Now let’s go back inside to everyone” he said and you and he did so.

Shame filled you immensely just as guilt washed over you. You knew you shouldn’t have done what you had just done. Peter Pan had given Wendy a hidden kiss that he shouldn’t have.

———–

It took you awhile to get over it. You finally managed to gather your strength, courage, and composure to just move on, as hard as it seemed.

You opened your phone with a smile to finally text Shoto. You looked up at the penthouse and rung the doorbell.

Instead of either Shoto or Momo, whom you had expected to be the ones to answer to door, a young girl had run out. “Auntie Y/n!” A little girl with raven hair and heterochromic irises ran towards you and tackled you into a hug. You laughed and hugged her in return.

“I missed you so much” the little girl grinned, pulling away. You smiled at her and nodded. “I did too, Shiro”

You both finally got up and nodded at each other. You both performed a series of hand clasps and claps before grinning at one another.

You both immediately heard a stern clearing of a throat, causing you and the little girl to turn to where the sound had come from, clearly knowing who it was.

“I see you still have the audacity to do a handshake with my own daughter after only texting me just now that you’re staying in Musutafu for 16 days” Shoto crossed his arms with a frown.

You chuckled and got back up, “Well, what’s the point of a surprise if you know?” You teased, making him playfully hit you.

“Come in. Momo immediately started cooking just seconds ago when I got your text” he rolled his eyes, opening the door to let you in.

You followed in after Shiro then removed your shoes. “The house still hasn’t changed much huh?” you smiled.

“Not at all,” He said while walking in. You entered the living room, connected to the kitchen. “Hey L/n, I’m getting some Sukiyaki done, please wait for a while” Yaoyorozu perked up from the kitchen then stepped back in to tend to the food. “It’ alright really. I’m just visiting” you said.

“If you were, you should have warned us ahead of time” Shoto frowned making you roll your eyes. “Well, If I’m going to be honest, this trip really was last minute” you replied. Shoto raised a brow, intrigued by your reply. “How so?”

“Hero work” you replied.

Shoto gave you a deadpanned look. “How am I not surprised. For what exactly?” he inquired further.

“They’re working on a case regarding a villain like black market here in Musutafu. Since I handled it well back in Nagasaki, they decided to call me up for backup”

“I see. I remember Midoriya informed me that he was working on that case as well” he stated and you nodded.

“I’m actually staying at Ochako’s place since she lives close to various agencies”

“You could’ve stayed with us” Shiro interjected with a pout.

You laughed and ruffled her hair. “I would but I’m pretty sure if I surprised your dad with the fact I’m staying over, he’d be even madder”

“I’m not mad” Shoto replied, rolling his eyes making you and Shiro burst into a fit of giggles.

“The Sukiyaki’s done! Please come over” Yaoyorozu called over while popping up from behind the wall. You three got up and walked over to the dinner table. You used the ladle to get a bowl for yourself then saw Shiro’s mouth watering from the scent of the soup. You used the ladle to get another serving and poured it on the young girl’s bowl.

You took a sip and savored the flavor before turning to Yaoyorozu. “This is great Momo. You really didn’t have to”

She shook her head, “it’s fine. You’re our guest and it is almost lunchtime after all” she explained, you nodded as thanks then continued eating.

“So are you here for vacation?” Yaoyorozu questioned but Shoto replied for you.

“She’s working on the case Midoriya is doing,” he replied.

Before you could interject, Shiro spoke up. “Daddy, you’re just mad at Auntie Y/n because she’s prettier than you”

You were tempted to choke at your soup but ended up laughing softly. Shoto’s brows furrowed. “I’m not mad about that, I’m not even mad. I just-”

“You are. You’re mad that she’s prettier than you. But you’re pretty too”

“I said I-” Shoto was about to retort back but you decided to intervene.

“Shiro, Your dad’s right. He’s not mad…” you trailed off as a smirk crawled up to your face. “He’s upset”

The young girl beamed and nodded repeatedly making you and Yaoyorozu chuckle while Shoto had given up.

“If you’re so pretty Auntie, then why aren’t you married?” She innocently inquired. You weren’t sure how to answer. You glanced slowly at Shoto who was also anticipating an answer.

“You really are cheeky and talkative huh? You better start eating before I get your Sukiyaki” You jokingly threatened to cause her face to pale and immediately, she began to eat more.

After lunch, you offered to wash the dishes along with Shoto as Yaoyorozu fixed the table and gone to do some urgent paperwork for her agency.

“So what wrong? About what Shiro said earlier at the table, don’t you want to be in a relationship? You used to babble about it a lot before” he spoke up.

“You really do have this hidden telepathic quirk huh?” you said while scrubbing the plate.

“Of course, I’ve known you for decades” he rolled his eyes.

“To me, it seemed like only a few years…” you replied lowly. “That’s the reason. I’m afraid of initiating because if I’m going to live 2 times longer than my significant other, It would hurt even more to lose them and live on. I’ve seen people envy me for my youth but really, I envy everyone else” you paused. “It’s like Peter Pan remember? He had to see everyone grow up, live, forget, and pass away. I’m afraid of that. Plus people won’t even take me seriously” you finished.

“I see,” he said. “Well, no one’s gonna pressure you to get into a relationship any time soon. What matters is if you’re happy”

Your mind processed his words several times and they repeated; every syllable echoing. You forced on a smile, questioning to yourself if you could still be happy knowing that he couldn’t love you and that one day, You’ll have to face the harsh reality of your words that were previously uttered.

———–

As per usual, time had passed by quickly that it had become an inside joke every time a big event would occur or if you remembered that either 5 or ten years had passed by. You witnessed many blissful: birthdays, weddings, celebrations, and mournful circumstances, such as one you were currently at.

You looked around the people around, several were familiar faces, however, they were all upset. Everyone was in black and either busy mourning or talking to each other.

You stared at the coffin with a blank expression; eyes sore and red while your face was pale. Your body was weak and frail despite you only looking like a middle-aged woman.

Gripping onto the stem of the bouquet, you bit back tears from streaming down your face. Your legs were probably going to give up on you if you wouldn’t take a seat any time soon. You let out a deep sigh as you turned around to look for a vacant seat. As you did, your eyes drifted off at the press who were outside, thankfully being kept out by security. They were all shamelessly trying to get a story of how the great Pro Hero, Shoto, had passed away, audaciously begging for details. You finally took a seat and continued stirring into a daze while your eyes were fixated at a framed photograph on the table beside the coffin.

You suddenly snapped out of your daze from a tap on your shoulder. You looked at the woman with raven hair and mismatched hues behind you, who looked no more than a few years younger than you. “Aunt Y/n, my husband and I are going to leave. The kids would get out of school anytime soon” she said as you nodded.

“It’s alright. I’m not your mother,” you replied.

“You were always like one to me” she frowned. “Dad wouldn’t want you being like this. You’ve been like this at other funerals already. It’s not bad but you shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened. He passed away peacefully at an old age.” Shiro stated, to comfort you even though she was just as grief struck.

You gave her a soft smile. “Thank you. Go on, your husband is waiting. I’ll stay here for a while” She nodded and left.

The words you had previously uttered were an understatement. You had stayed there for more than several hours, people had already left and the moon was up. You decided to stand up and bid a final farewell.

You smiled, placing the bouquet down beside the gravestone.

“Promise that I’ll see you in Neverland”

In case you haven’t seen the trailer, here it is. Shoutout to the Stranger Things Discord server (invite code in the sidebar; now’s a great time to join us!) members u/rightside_up, u/farh0rizons, u/ambiguwus and u/yuanyangty for conducting this analysis, as well as other server members for a collaborative writing effort on this analysis. We would also like to apologise for the long wait for this despite starting shortly after the trailer aired. Drafts were made and improvements took longer than expected.Anyway, here we go.The first scene depicts Mike, Lucas, and Dustin riding into the arcade. It’s worth noting that Will is not seen riding with them. It’s very possible that after the events of Season 1, Will is getting driven to places instead of being allowed to bike (though it’s possible he came separately later. We did see Will on his bike in the Season 2 poster/short teaser). They pass three extras by the cars, who are unidentified. Dustin’s voiceover, “We gonna do this? Let’s engage” appears to refer to the next scene--the Dragon’s Lair game. In the arcade scene we see the four boys--Will has now joined up--crowded around the Dragon’s Lair game. All clues indicate this scene immediately follows the previous biking scene. Dustin is the one we see actually playing the game. Many people have hypothesized that Dragon’s Lair might foreshadow Stranger Things 2 in the same way that the Dungeons and Dragons campaign foreshadowed the first.A strange whispering noise can be heard during a black screen. Many interpret this sound as something calling “Will”. If this is a voice saying “Will”, the implications of this detail are significant. It would suggest that there is some sort of sentient presence in the Upside Down. If it can talk, if it knows who will is, then this means that it thinks and does things deliberately. This could not be said about the Demogorgon--it never showed itself to be anything more than some sort of animal. Will turns and sees floating particles outside of the arcade. He then calls his friends, but the previously-full arcade is now empty. He is alone. Then, it flashes to the Upside Down. This is a departure from what we’ve seen before. At the end of the first series, Will flashed back and forth between our world and the Upside Down in his visions. But he was seeing either one or the other. Here, he sees them in varying degrees. He’s seeing particles at the same time that he can see and hear his friends. Whether this is a stylistic choice or some hint as to the mechanics of these “visions” are unknown. The electric portions of the arcade flicker. The door to the arcade slams open--why is unclear (wind? An unseen force? This also happens later at the Byers house). Will ventures outside. There, he sees, in the sky, stormclouds with red flashes and lightning. Will sees the creature--the presumed Monster for this season. It appears to turn in his direction. We then hear Mike: “Will?”--although his voice is distorted. Will turns around. He is still outside the Arcade, and now Mike is there, coming out of the door. He asks if Will is okay. Will looks around, everything is normal, with no signs of the Upside Down. The nature of Will’s “visions” of the Upside Down are not yet completely understood. This scene tells us that Will is still physically in the real world while experiencing these visions. When we see him walking outside the Arcade in the Upside Down, he must also be doing this in the real world--because this is where he is when the vision ends. And Mike could see him standing outside staring at the sky--even when Will was experiencing the Upside Down version.0:59 We hear Hopper’s voice saying, “Nothing’s gonna go back to the way that it was ... not really”over a quick succession of images: Jonathan’s car is seen driving out of Hawkins. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas sit in class. Mike looks at the empty seat next to him. Will is not there. This is later shown to be his seat. Steve walks away from Nancy. They are in an alley at school--they met there multiple times in the first season. The mood here seems tense. Nancy looks concerned or forlorn. Steve seems frustrated, and appears to be walking away from the discussion. His attire suggests he’s at practice for some sport. Will is being examined at Hawkins National Lab. He’s reclined, wearing a hospital gown, with sensors on his head. Joyce sits next to him. We also get a glimpse of Hopper standing in the background. We cut to the bank of security monitors at the Lab. We see the same scene, except Hopper is now out of frame and we see a new presence--a man in a labcoat, presumed to be Dr. Owens, the new person in charge at HNL, on the other side of Will, examining him. The shot zooms out to reveal the larger bank of monitors. This shot was also seen in the Superbowl trailer; however, there are some differences. Notably, in the Superbowl trailer, there was a date on the screen “Oct. 30 ‘84 3:02 PM”, while there is no date in this trailer. There are also several other differences, such as the zooming, color, and the fact that the monitor shot of Will being examined is now wider. Many of these may have been editing changes, and it’s worth noting that the HNL monitors lacked dates in the first season. We hear Will say “I saw something”. A line of people sit at a table facing away from us in a room at HNL. They wear headphones. Some kind of machine is running in front of them. They appear to be similar to the people who were performing surveillance for HNL in the first season. Joyce says “What is it?” This may either attached to Will’s “I saw something” quote or his following “I felt it” quote.We see a field of rotting pumpkins. They’re in advanced states of decay. Flies gather around a few of them. From the context of the whole trailer, many assume the rot is somehow associated with the Upside Down. Will sits straight up in his bed. It looks like he’s just woken up. He stares directly ahead, as if in a trance, expressionless. We can see Joyce, followed in the distance by Hopper, in the doorway. She looks concerned. Will says, “I don’t know. I felt it everywhere” Will says this last part while seated at a table, across from his mother. He’s in tears, speaking barely above a whisper. Joyce looks visibly concerned. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin stare at something from around a corner. Their faces seem to be expressions of concern and worry. From the brick wall, as well as the background, they might outside their school.We pan across a field at night. It’s foggy. We can see pumpkins--this is possibly related to the rotting ones we see earlier. There is a small light in the distance. From left to right, Dustin, Steve, Lucas, and Max walk outside with flashlights, waving their beams around, ostensibly looking for something. It’s nighttime, and foggy. The grouping we see here indicates some interesting things about Stranger Things 2. Dustin and Lucas have teamed up with Max, but neither Mike nor Will are present. We also see that Steve is with them. How Steve connects with the kids this season is unknown, but this trailer seems to suggest that he will be with them and helping them out. Next there is a close-up of several lit-up Halloween gravestone decorations. One reads: “RIP Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust Here Lies Someone I wouldn’t Trust”. This scene is probably Halloween ambience. A scientist at a control board in the lower reaches of HNL reacts as the controls start to go haywire, lights blinking out of control. There appears to be something on the screen that can’t be made out. We look at a chair. It has Dustin’s sweater lying on it. There’s also a dark stain on the fabric, along with droplets of dark liquid. Many people believe this to be blood due to an audial cue in the “Thriller” remix playing. Dustin approaches the chair cautiously, examining the scene. We get a shot of the Wheeler house on Halloween. Kids in costumes walk past. There is a Reagan/Bush ‘84 campaign sign outside the Wheeler House--the 1984 Presidential Election was held a week after Halloween (on November 6, the one year anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance). Reagan would receive over 61% of the vote in Indiana and win the election by an electoral landslide. There’s a scene of the four boys-- Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Will, in their Ghostbusters costumes, as Stantz, Zeddemore, Venkman, and Spengler, respectively. They appear to be looking at something, and their expressions seem concerned. We see Hopper’s hovering over a map. It appears to be a topographic map. In the upper right hand corner are a series of dark grid-like lines--some have theorized that this is the town of Hawkins. Someone has drawn a series of blue “X”’s around the map, and Hopper appears to have drawn red concentric circles overlapping with them. The epicenter of these circles are some sort of complex-- a grey square inside a larger white, red-bordered rectangle. Hopper points at this with his pen. A new girl enters class at Hawkins Middle School: Max. The four boys (Will is not absent in this scene) look at her. She sits far away from them, tucked away in the back, arms crossed, possibly nervous. Mike says, “Sometimes I feel like I still see her”, referring to Eleven. He’s sitting in his basement, apparently holding his Millenium Falcon Model, staring in the direction of Eleven’s fort. We see a shot of Eleven’s fort, apparently still standing. This is accompanied by a voiceover from Eleven: “Mike”. Dustin approaches a garbage can outside what might be his house. He’s holding up the proton blaster of his Ghostbusters costume defensively. Someone places a proton pack down on a table. The boys gather around it. They appear possibly to be in the AV Room at Hawkins Middle School? The pack begins to shake--they back away from it cautiously. Mike holds up a microphone defensively, apparently ready to strike whatever it is inside. The boys open the pack. We don’t glimpse what’s inside, but we see that Max is also with them, staring down inside. Three of the boys--probably Lucas, Dustin, and Mike-- bike down a road in their Ghostbusters costumes. Hopper’s voice again, saying “Whatever’s happening is spreading from this place” over a succession of images: Hopper pulls some sort of slime, probably Upside Down-related, from a tree and examines it. A man--probably a farmer--watches behind him. Nancy and Jonathan enter into a room. It looks like it’s at Hawkins National Lab. Behind them is a screen with markings that can’t be made out. They stare at a portal (probably the Gate) to the Upside Down. It seems to have been contained--and it’s now encased in glass. Will sits at his desk drawing furiously. He’s still partially undressed--this appears to be a continuation of the earlier scene where he sits upright in bed, trance-like. As he finishes a page, he lets it flutter down to the floor. In the next scene, we see the culmination of Will’s drawings. Papers snake throughout the floor and up over furniture, connecting to each other, depicting a network of purplish vines. We don’t know exactly what these are, but they appear very similar to the thick vines we see covering the Upside Down. Why Will is drawing these is unclear, but perhaps he is depicting what he sees in his visions of the Upside Down. We hear Joyce ask, “What does it want?” Joyce and Hopper stand in the Byers’ living room, looking at Will’s creation. We then hear Will: “Not me. Everyone else.” Whether this is actually the reply to Joyce’s question is unclear, but the trailer definitely sets it up this way. So why this thing doesn’t want Will, and why it wants everybody else, is a question that is both unanswered, and, probably, fundamentally important. Will stands in front of his door as it opens, by itself, slowly. We see the red skies and lightning again. We have a panning shot of a lot of characters gathered in the Byers house. They appear tense, ready for conflict, and most are armed. The ones we see are: Lucas, armed with a wrist-rocket, Hopper, armed with a large gun, Steve (possibly with a spiked baseball bat), Dustin, Jonathan, Joyce, Nancy, armed with a shotgun, and Mike, armed with some kind of small metal cup/candlestick/trophy. Hopper stands outdoors at night, driving the shaft of what appears to be some tool, possibly a shovel, downwards. We may be able to assume that he’s digging for something, or elsewise striking something. A clip of a Halloween party. This scene is outside at night. We see Billy, Season 2’s principal human “evil” shirtless with a leather jacket spitting out a spray (alcohol, perhaps) into the air. Others party around him, including Tommy H., dressed as a Cobra Kai. Steve and Nancy dance at a party, but indoors. Possibly the same one. Steve appears to be having a good time. Nancy drinks from a red solo cup. Nancy sits on the edge of the tub in a bathroom. She is upset and distressed, holding her face in her hands. Someone in a hazmat suit approaches the Gate to the Upside Down. They hold in their hands some sort of multi-pronged flamethrower. We then see one of the hazmat guys using their flamethrower on a creature, or a vine from the upside down. It writes up into the air at the flames hit it. This may still be in the lab--the background shows what may be the glass divider surrounding the Gate. What this does show confirms that entities from the upside down have a noticeable weakness to fire due to their reaction upon being set alight. The next shot shows the inside of a cabin being torn apart with Hopper inside. The possibilities of what this shot suggests will be covered in a theory post which will be separate from this breakdown. Will is then shown to be having another vision, being shaken by Joyce shouting at him telling him to wake up. He appears to be a catatonic state during this vision, hinting that his connection to the USD causes him to temporarily lose control over his actions, freezing him in place whilst he suffers these visions. Hopper can then be seen investigating a long stretch of tunnel, it is unknown where he finds this although it could be possible that it's what he finds upon digging into the ground, a shot that has been shown in the super bowl trailer previously as well as this trailer. New character Bob Newby is then seen running through a hallway, wearing what appears to be hospital scrubs. The most likely place for him to be would be at Hawkins National Lab. How and why he would be there is unknown. He can be seen with a flashlight and, more importantly, a walkie talkie. This clearly implies with characters in possession of other walkie talkies I.e. the kids. This scene is what was described to us in a deadline article a few weeks prior to the trailer reveal. So expect Bob to get involved with Will’s condition as well as possibly the supernatural happenings. Especially since a corpse can be seen in the very same shot. Steve walks slowly through what can only be presumed is the junkyard armed with a spiked bat. Hinting at what could be another threat from the USD making it's way into the “Rightside Up” Steve is then with the kids in another tunnel jumping back from whatever is in front of them. Whilst we do not know what it is, a detail that we can point out is that they are all wearing clothing around their mouths: make-shift safety gear. Also note how there are particles in the air around them. This strongly suggests they are in an area that is close to the influence of the upside down, more specifically, another portal as we know that this toxic air leaks from the portal at HNL. It's possible that new portals have opened in these tunnels underneath Hawkins allowing the upside down’s toxic atmosphere to leak into the Rightside up. Dustin yells “Abort!” obviously meaning something has gone wrong in a plan, possibly during the time Steve and the kids go out in previous shots. The final shots in the trailer before the eleven reveal show Will having another vision. In this one he us running away from a mass of what can only be described as dark misty tendrils, perhaps of the monster seen in the trailer (pure speculation at this point). He is running through a school hall so it is during school hours. The reveal of eleven will be included in a separate post to this. This is because it led to a theory we deemed too long to be part of the breakdown as a whole as it lead to more speculation rather than looking at parts of the trailer. And that just about covers it. For now. via /r/StrangerThings

Immersive Fantasy RP Partner!! Maybe Kinda D&D Style If You Wanna!

Hi, I'm Gray. I'm sixteen. Central time zone. Transguy.

So, I have this fictional world called Ryuco'ov. I need to do some worldbuilding and character development practice but I can be a bit unmotivated, so I was wondering if anyone would be interested in doing a one-on-one roleplay. I'll try my hardest to make it fun for you. I handle plot and world building and you can explore and give me feed back. Win-win? You can create any kind of character you would like and I will try my hardest to make it all work. If you want to make a character that fits into the world I would glady give help and anything needed. But if not? That's fine, we can discuss things and fit them in. It may go slowly. If it needs to be ended at any time just say. It's alright if you can't respond for even days. I don't mind. I may have to do the same. I would, however, prefer to do this on Discord, due to the channels and organization it makes available. And the ease of access on both mobile and PC.

The place, in of itself, relies heavily on religion. There are around twenty major gods/godesses and various prophets we can talk about as we go along. Each god(ess) (referred to widely as a Guardian) has a main element and various assosciations (including a general race). They each have a group of devotees. If one is not devoted they are shunned from (most of) society. Devotees, after heavy practicing, are capable of magic relating to their Guardian. There is however a genetic component and it is not deemed possible to switch Guardians. I've been playing with this concept recently though. Anything is really subject to change at this point, and that's kinda why I need help. Haha. ':D

The Guardians are put into three groups: Xc'woiriu(moon), Roa'ucall(sun), and Cupiniae(everything else seen in the night sky). These became three sorts of countries.

Xc'woiriu is generally family-oriented, introverted, and organized. It is primarily temperate and you are probably a farmer, exporting grain, fruits, and vegetables. A lot of creepy rituals. earth - death/dreams - poison - knowledge - magic - technology

Roa'ucall has the highest crime rates, and is rather hot. The scent of your sweat, however, is cancelled out by all the cooking and food. Vendors are everywhere, and the people are boisterous. sky - nature - light - thunder - fire - chaos

Cupiniae is ambiverted and artistic. The area is primarily cold. Most people are crafters, making trinkets and machines. The people are most cooperative with each other citizens here. The capitol-goers, though, are assholes towards anything out of what they consider the norm. It is the largest region. spaaaaaace - water - health - love - weaponry/craftiness - ice - war

There's more to the world than that. Enchanting and relics are common. Along with gemcrafting, which is how most machines work. There are two sort of "Eras" that I'm open to RPing in. The most developed one is modern, where the society as they knew had been destroyed and a group of people from neutral territory are attempting to rebuild civilization. Normal humans have at some point populated some lost islands, and some people from Ryuco'ov kinda go there and try to fit in and find people of Ryuco'ovian descent. Mainly they've just ended up screwing around. This would be the easiest to do, I think. I have lots of characters planned out here. (Rebuilding Era)

Another era is before everything went to hell. Everything seems to be bustling, while new technology is always being released. Technology devotees are pretty much enslaved. Death/dream and chaos devotees have been banished long ago and exist primarily in rumors and tales to scare kids into eating their veggies or whatever. There are plenty of rebellious groups for various causes. There is a neutral, peaceful, Capitol sort of place with three people from each other region and a family to rule that is at the height of it all. I have that place mainly planned out. I have a handful of characters planned out. (Flower-Artisan Era)

I will do anything to help accomodate those who are interested. I'll provide additional information as it is neccessary or requested. I can probably only manage doing this for two people(one person for each era, but if two people are comfortable roleplaying together with me in the same server, I could probably manage that), though. If you have any ideas, suggestions, comments, critiques, or things you'd like me to do at any point in time though please just say.

If you're interested, send me a message with: -questions -what era you'd like to play in -if you want to roleplay with stats and dice -any triggers you may have -what genre of things you'd like me to lean the RP towards -any concerns you may have From there we can discuss everything. I already have the servers on Discord ready to go.

I'll probably also do a lot of sketches and doodles for this. The ones that are presentable enough will be uploaded to my OC's and conworlding accounts, soundofrainfall.deviantart.com and welcome-to-ryucoov.tumblr.com . I'll also probably put a lot of the text and information on the world there. You will become my sort of partner in this whole mess. And also we can be friends. :D (I won't bite, I swear)

I think that covers everything. Thank you for reading this. (Shoutout to my sister for editing this whole request ask)

You can message me on Discord at 5561 GrayArea. Or on here, and I can send you the invite to the Discrod server once we get the details figured out. I look forward to roleplaying with you!

I will not roleplay any explicit sexual content.

ITK Newsletter, no. CVI: ISLA RA SESSIONS - Featuring Guest Derek O'Neill

Loony fanatics!

Welcome, welcome, WELCOME to the latest and greatest ITK newsletter for you this week, coming straight from the hand-eye coordinated skills of one of the High Priests of Khonshu, Rey!

We had a blast last week reviewing the new Moon Knight comic annual and it was so much fun chatting with the likes of Tommy and Chad alongside fellow High Priest Connor. More on this later, but we've got a new platform we're keen to test out!

In any case, this coming episode is a FUN one! My gosh, it has been ages and for so long I've wanted to have a chat with our special guest next episode, Derek, as I've been a huge fan of Derek and his co-hosts' work on TV Podcast Industries (previously known as Defenders TV Podcast).

Derek, John and Chris allowed us to find our feet int he podcasting world, so we'll be forever grateful to them, and anyway - it was such a pleasure to chat with Derek FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER face-to-face so to speak.

PHASE OF THE MOON: WANING GIBBOUS

ISLA RA SESSIONS - DEREK O'NEILL FROM TV PODCAST INDUSTRIES

I've had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Derek's co-host Chris Jones a couple of times on ITK, and we've had Derek and John narrate the 'Bare Bones' (long time listeners would know what that it - basically it's the comic book synopsis) in the past, but this was the first time I actually got to speak to Derek, and all nerves aside (which comes with chatting with someone you look up to) it was an absolute blast!

I must also add this note in bold - 

**NOTE: Please note that events which take place during the upcoming ISLA RA occur BEFORE any announcement of the Moon Knight TV show**

I add this as Derek and I do talk about a 'future' Moon Knight show...but of course, as recent events tell us, we the Loonies have already nabbed a TV show as announced by Disney!!

Derek's ISLA RA books are an eclectic and throughly entertaining read...I urge you to read these either before or after you listen to the show this coming weekend.

As always we present to you an option to either read ahead, or wait and be surprised by listening to Derek - 

Derek's Top 4 Isla Ra (Desert Island) Comics: ???

As always, we aren't giving anything away! Below you'll find encrypted links to Derek's books. These will be in the show nots as well, but if you want to prepare for the show and discover what books Derek has chosen - and read them ahead of our discussion - then look no further than below - 

DEREK'S TOP 4 ISLA RA BOOKS:

Derek's Top Pick

Derek's 2nd Pick

Derek's 3rd Pick

Derek's 4th Pick

NEW PLATFORM FOR INTO THE KNIGHT - A NEW ERA

In other news, we tested a new platform last week (and a BIG shoutout to Capes and Lunatics, a fellow member of The Collective who put us onto the platform) called GetVokl.

It's brilliant and opens up some possibilities for hosts and Loonies alike! It's similar to Discord in the fact that it allows Loonies to converse with one another, and even do that in a video or audio capacity. It opens the door to the hosts in that we can now broadcast shows live with video and have it simulcast over Facebook and Twitter...! We won't be doing this for every show we do (for instance, next episode will not be broadcast live as it's already recorded and edited) but whenever an opportunity pops up, we may give it a go.

There's also an ITK Welcome room which accommodates up to four Loonies who just want to hang out and chat away about anything Moon Knight related...

It seems like a heap of fun, so be sure to check it out and subscribe if you can!

THE LOST SESSIONS?

Also, as a bit of a heads up - some Loonies recorded the second episode of the ROUNDTABLE ROBIN: A SIDEKICKS' REVENGEANCE and I've got 80% of it completed. The utter tragedy is that one of the set of vocals didn't successfully record, so it has been left incomplete and therefore delayed.

We at ITK and the Loonies involved are working hard to rectify this and we are looking to release this episode once I get the new vocals and it's all edited together.

Some of you may have seen this featured as a GetVokl broadcast last weekend, and you would have caught the last two-thirds of it... there was actually another 20 minutes before the broadcast, which will be captured int he final cut of the podcast when it's released, so you'll get to hear the entire chat in all it's glory!

A huge thanks to Rick, Tommy and Knol for meeting up to chat and record their thoughts on Moony and anything else they wanted to alk about (I hear Kaijus were discussed?? :P)

Keep your eyes out for this soon!

THE HUNT FOR KHONSHU'S GOLDEN SCEPTRE 

For those who listened to Episode 113, you would have heard the next thrilling chapter in our serial - Part Cinquieme: Serpientes de Caos...

For those who missed out, I'll be releasing Part Cinquieme as a separate episode later this week...

As a suggestion, why not create a playlist and add Parts 1-5 together to get the whole picture?

CO-HOSTING ON THE COLLECTIVE

Finally, I do the rounds once again and I obviously just can't get enough of podcasting!

I'll be guest co-host on the  Signal of Doom Podcast  this Friday alongside David Finn and it should be a hoot! Apart from dissecting the latest news in geek culture, we'll review a handful of latest releases and we also will review The Walking Dead issues #1-12 for Dave's Trade of the Week!

Always fun to chat with Dave and I might even see if Dave's amenable to using GetVokl to record...we may even broadcast it as a vodcast!

I'll also be recording another episode of Last Sons of Krypton - A Superman Podcast with my brother in arms, Connor McKenna. We'll be reviewing DC Comics Presents #85 with Superman teaming up with the Swamp Thing. We'll even have guests on the show too...a couple of hosts who have their own Swamp Things Podcast will join us to give their expert take on that gooey, swampy mess of a man!

CONTACT US!

You can always chat or leave feedback to us - 

We absolutely LOVE to hear from you, and will always address and give you shout outs on the show, so please don't hesitate to drop us a line!

We've got various social media outlets and we use these to read Loony comments on the show - if you DON'T want your comments broadcast, please just add, "(DNB)" at the end of your comment, and we'll be sure not to broadcast it. We'll pick a few comments from here and discuss on the show!

Email: [email protected]

Podcast Page: http://intotheknight.libsyn.com

Facebook Page: Into the Knight - A Moon Knight Podcast

Facebook Group: Into the Knight - A Moon Knight Fan Base

Twitter: @ITKmoonknight

Discord ITK Server: ITK Server

GetVokl : Into the Knight Welcome Room (New!)

That's it for this newsletter - be sure to tune in this weekend for our Episode 114...I can't urge you enough to not listen to me...but to the thoroughly entertaining Derek and his thoughts on comics, Moon Knight and watching your favourite TV shows...it's a decent sized show with a surprise special guest to boot!!....OK, I'll leave you with that little teaser....!:P

Stay well, and - 

May Khonshu Watch Over the Denizens of the (K)Night,

Rey

Proud Member of The Collective

  Check out this episode!

In case you haven’t seen the trailer, here it is. Shoutout to the Stranger Things Discord server (invite code in the sidebar; now’s a great time to join us!) members u/rightside_up, u/farh0rizons, u/ambiguwus and u/yuanyangty for conducting this analysis, as well as other server members for a collaborative writing effort on this analysis. We would also like to apologise for the long wait for this despite starting shortly after the trailer aired. Drafts were made and improvements took longer than expected. Anyway, here we go. The first scene depicts Mike, Lucas, and Dustin riding into the arcade. It’s worth noting that Will is not seen riding with them. It’s very possible that after the events of Season 1, Will is getting driven to places instead of being allowed to bike (though it’s possible he came separately later. We did see Will on his bike in the Season 2 poster/short teaser). They pass three extras by the cars, who are unidentified. Dustin’s voiceover, “We gonna do this? Let’s engage” appears to refer to the next scene--the Dragon’s Lair game. In the arcade scene we see the four boys--Will has now joined up--crowded around the Dragon’s Lair game. All clues indicate this scene immediately follows the previous biking scene. Dustin is the one we see actually playing the game. Many people have hypothesized that Dragon’s Lair might foreshadow Stranger Things 2 in the same way that the Dungeons and Dragons campaign foreshadowed the first. A strange whispering noise can be heard during a black screen. Many interpret this sound as something calling “Will”. If this is a voice saying “Will”, the implications of this detail are significant. It would suggest that there is some sort of sentient presence in the Upside Down. If it can talk, if it knows who will is, then this means that it thinks and does things deliberately. This could not be said about the Demogorgon--it never showed itself to be anything more than some sort of animal. Will turns and sees floating particles outside of the arcade. He then calls his friends, but the previously-full arcade is now empty. He is alone. Then, it flashes to the Upside Down. This is a departure from what we’ve seen before. At the end of the first series, Will flashed back and forth between our world and the Upside Down in his visions. But he was seeing either one or the other. Here, he sees them in varying degrees. He’s seeing particles at the same time that he can see and hear his friends. Whether this is a stylistic choice or some hint as to the mechanics of these “visions” are unknown. The electric portions of the arcade flicker. The door to the arcade slams open--why is unclear (wind? An unseen force? This also happens later at the Byers house). Will ventures outside. There, he sees, in the sky, stormclouds with red flashes and lightning. Will sees the creature--the presumed Monster for this season. It appears to turn in his direction. We then hear Mike: “Will?”--although his voice is distorted. Will turns around. He is still outside the Arcade, and now Mike is there, coming out of the door. He asks if Will is okay. Will looks around, everything is normal, with no signs of the Upside Down. The nature of Will’s “visions” of the Upside Down are not yet completely understood. This scene tells us that Will is still physically in the real world while experiencing these visions. When we see him walking outside the Arcade in the Upside Down, he must also be doing this in the real world--because this is where he is when the vision ends. And Mike could see him standing outside staring at the sky--even when Will was experiencing the Upside Down version. 0:59 We hear Hopper’s voice saying, “Nothing’s gonna go back to the way that it was ... not really”over a quick succession of images: Jonathan’s car is seen driving out of Hawkins. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas sit in class. Mike looks at the empty seat next to him. Will is not there. This is later shown to be his seat. Steve walks away from Nancy. They are in an alley at school--they met there multiple times in the first season. The mood here seems tense. Nancy looks concerned or forlorn. Steve seems frustrated, and appears to be walking away from the discussion. His attire suggests he’s at practice for some sport. Will is being examined at Hawkins National Lab. He’s reclined, wearing a hospital gown, with sensors on his head. Joyce sits next to him. We also get a glimpse of Hopper standing in the background. We cut to the bank of security monitors at the Lab. We see the same scene, except Hopper is now out of frame and we see a new presence--a man in a labcoat, presumed to be Dr. Owens, the new person in charge at HNL, on the other side of Will, examining him. The shot zooms out to reveal the larger bank of monitors. This shot was also seen in the Superbowl trailer; however, there are some differences. Notably, in the Superbowl trailer, there was a date on the screen “Oct. 30 ‘84 3:02 PM”, while there is no date in this trailer. There are also several other differences, such as the zooming, color, and the fact that the monitor shot of Will being examined is now wider. Many of these may have been editing changes, and it’s worth noting that the HNL monitors lacked dates in the first season. We hear Will say “I saw something”. A line of people sit at a table facing away from us in a room at HNL. They wear headphones. Some kind of machine is running in front of them. They appear to be similar to the people who were performing surveillance for HNL in the first season. Joyce says “What is it?” This may either be attached to Will’s “I saw something” quote or his following “I felt it” quote. We see a field of rotting pumpkins. They’re in advanced states of decay. Flies gather around a few of them. From the context of the whole trailer, many assume the rot is somehow associated with the Upside Down. Will sits straight up in his bed. It looks like he’s just woken up. He stares directly ahead, as if in a trance, expressionless. We can see Joyce, followed in the distance by Hopper, in the doorway. She looks concerned. Will says, “I don’t know. I felt it everywhere” Will says this last part while seated at a table, across from his mother. He’s in tears, speaking barely above a whisper. Joyce looks visibly concerned. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin stare at something from around a corner. Their faces seem to be expressions of concern and worry. From the brick wall, as well as the background, they might outside their school. We pan across a field at night. It’s foggy. We can see pumpkins--this is possibly related to the rotting ones we see earlier. There is a small light in the distance. From left to right, Dustin, Steve, Lucas, and Max walk outside with flashlights, waving their beams around, ostensibly looking for something. It’s nighttime, and foggy. The grouping we see here indicates some interesting things about Stranger Things 2. Dustin and Lucas have teamed up with Max, but neither Mike nor Will are present. We also see that Steve is with them. How Steve connects with the kids this season is unknown, but this trailer seems to suggest that he will be with them and helping them out. Next there is a close-up of several lit-up Halloween gravestone decorations. One reads: “RIP Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust Here Lies Someone I wouldn’t Trust”. This scene is probably Halloween ambience. A scientist at a control board in the lower reaches of HNL reacts as the controls start to go haywire, lights blinking out of control. There appears to be something on the screen that can’t be made out. We look at a chair. It has Dustin’s sweater lying on it. There’s also a dark stain on the fabric, along with droplets of dark liquid. Many people believe this to be blood due to an audial cue in the “Thriller” remix playing. Dustin approaches the chair cautiously, examining the scene. We get a shot of the Wheeler house on Halloween. Kids in costumes walk past. There is a Reagan/Bush ‘84 campaign sign outside the Wheeler House--the 1984 Presidential Election was held a week after Halloween (on November 6, the one year anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance). Reagan would receive over 61% of the vote in Indiana and win the election by an electoral landslide. There’s a scene of the four boys-- Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Will, in their Ghostbusters costumes, as Stantz, Zeddemore, Venkman, and Spengler, respectively. They appear to be looking at something, and their expressions seem concerned. We see Hopper’s hovering over a map. It appears to be a topographic map. In the upper right hand corner are a series of dark grid-like lines--some have theorized that this is the town of Hawkins. Someone has drawn a series of blue “X”’s around the map, and Hopper appears to have drawn red concentric circles overlapping with them. The epicenter of these circles are some sort of complex-- a grey square inside a larger white, red-bordered rectangle. Hopper points at this with his pen. A new girl enters class at Hawkins Middle School: Max. The four boys (Will is not absent in this scene) look at her. She sits far away from them, tucked away in the back, arms crossed, possibly nervous. Mike says, “Sometimes I feel like I still see her”, referring to Eleven. He’s sitting in his basement, apparently holding his Millenium Falcon Model, staring in the direction of Eleven’s fort. We see a shot of Eleven’s fort, apparently still standing. This is accompanied by a voiceover from Eleven: “Mike”. Dustin approaches a garbage can outside what might be his house. He’s holding up the proton blaster of his Ghostbusters costume defensively. Someone places a proton pack down on a table. The boys gather around it. They appear possibly to be in the AV Room at Hawkins Middle School? The pack begins to shake--they back away from it cautiously. Mike holds up a microphone defensively, apparently ready to strike whatever it is inside. The boys open the pack. We don’t glimpse what’s inside, but we see that Max is also with them, staring down inside. Three of the boys--probably Lucas, Dustin, and Mike-- bike down a road in their Ghostbusters costumes. Hopper’s voice again, saying “Whatever’s happening is spreading from this place” over a succession of images: Hopper pulls some sort of slime, probably Upside Down-related, from a tree and examines it. A man--probably a farmer--watches behind him. Nancy and Jonathan enter into a room. It looks like it’s at Hawkins National Lab. Behind them is a screen with markings that can’t be made out. They stare at a portal (probably the Gate) to the Upside Down. It seems to have been contained--and it’s now encased in glass. Will sits at his desk drawing furiously. He’s still partially undressed--this appears to be a continuation of the earlier scene where he sits upright in bed, trance-like. As he finishes a page, he lets it flutter down to the floor. In the next scene, we see the culmination of Will’s drawings. Papers snake throughout the floor and up over furniture, connecting to each other, depicting a network of purplish vines. We don’t know exactly what these are, but they appear very similar to the thick vines we see covering the Upside Down. Why Will is drawing these is unclear, but perhaps he is depicting what he sees in his visions of the Upside Down. We hear Joyce ask, “What does it want?” Joyce and Hopper stand in the Byers’ living room, looking at Will’s creation. We then hear Will: “Not me. Everyone else.” Whether this is actually the reply to Joyce’s question is unclear, but the trailer definitely sets it up this way. So why this thing doesn’t want Will, and why it wants everybody else, is a question that is both unanswered, and, probably, fundamentally important. Will stands in front of his door as it opens, by itself, slowly. We see the red skies and lightning again. We have a panning shot of a lot of characters gathered in the Byers house. They appear tense, ready for conflict, and most are armed. The ones we see are: Lucas, armed with a wrist-rocket, Hopper, armed with a large gun, Steve (possibly with a spiked baseball bat), Dustin, Jonathan, Joyce, Nancy, armed with a shotgun, and Mike, armed with some kind of small metal cup/candlestick/trophy. Hopper stands outdoors at night, driving the shaft of what appears to be some tool, possibly a shovel, downwards. We may be able to assume that he’s digging for something, or elsewise striking something. A clip of a Halloween party. This scene is outside at night. We see Billy, Season 2’s principal human “evil” shirtless with a leather jacket spitting out a spray (alcohol, perhaps) into the air. Others party around him, including Tommy H., dressed as a Cobra Kai. Steve and Nancy dance at a party, but indoors. Possibly the same one. Steve appears to be having a good time. Nancy drinks from a red solo cup. Nancy sits on the edge of the tub in a bathroom. She is upset and distressed, holding her face in her hands. Someone in a hazmat suit approaches the Gate to the Upside Down. They hold in their hands some sort of multi-pronged flamethrower. We then see one of the hazmat guys using their flamethrower on a creature, or a vine from the upside down. It writes up into the air at the flames hit it. This may still be in the lab--the background shows what may be the glass divider surrounding the Gate. What this does show confirms that entities from the upside down have a noticeable weakness to fire due to their reaction upon being set alight. The next shot shows the inside of a cabin being torn apart with Hopper inside. The possibilities of what this shot suggests will be covered in a theory post which will be separate from this breakdown. Will is then shown to be having another vision, being shaken by Joyce shouting at him telling him to wake up. He appears to be a catatonic state during this vision, hinting that his connection to the USD causes him to temporarily lose control over his actions, freezing him in place whilst he suffers these visions. Hopper can then be seen investigating a long stretch of tunnel, it is unknown where he finds this although it could be possible that it's what he finds upon digging into the ground, a shot that has been shown in the super bowl trailer previously as well as this trailer. New character Bob Newby is then seen running through a hallway, wearing what appears to be hospital scrubs. The most likely place for him to be would be at Hawkins National Lab. How and why he would be there is unknown. He can be seen with a flashlight and, more importantly, a walkie talkie. This clearly implies with characters in possession of other walkie talkies I.e. the kids. This scene is what was described to us in a deadline article a few weeks prior to the trailer reveal. So expect Bob to get involved with Will’s condition as well as possibly the supernatural happenings. Especially since a corpse can be seen in the very same shot. Steve walks slowly through what can only be presumed is the junkyard armed with a spiked bat. Hinting at what could be another threat from the USD making it's way into the “Rightside Up” Steve is then with the kids in another tunnel jumping back from whatever is in front of them. Whilst we do not know what it is, a detail that we can point out is that they are all wearing clothing around their mouths: make-shift safety gear. Also note how there are particles in the air around them. This strongly suggests they are in an area that is close to the influence of the upside down, more specifically, another portal as we know that this toxic air leaks from the portal at HNL. It's possible that new portals have opened in these tunnels underneath Hawkins allowing the upside down’s toxic atmosphere to leak into the Rightside up. Dustin yells “Abort!” obviously meaning something has gone wrong in a plan, possibly during the time Steve and the kids go out in previous shots. The final shots in the trailer before the eleven reveal show Will having another vision. In this one he us running away from a mass of what can only be described as dark misty tendrils, perhaps of the monster seen in the trailer (pure speculation at this point). He is running through a school hall so it is during school hours. The reveal of eleven will be included in a separate post to this. This is because it led to a theory we deemed too long to be part of the breakdown as a whole as it lead to more speculation rather than looking at parts of the trailer. And that just about covers it. For now. via /r/StrangerThings